Anarchiad : a New England poem, 1786-1787 / Humphreys, Barlow, Trumbull and Hopkins [electronic text]

A.

DISTURBANCES IN NEW ENGLAND——THE SHAYS REBELLION.

IN the month of September, 1786, a Convention of the people of Maine was sitting at Portland, to consider the expediency of forming themselves into an independent State. This, however, was but a trifle, compared with the disturbances which now began to appear in the southern and western counties of Massachusetts. The General Court had voted customs and excise duties, producing a revenue sufficient to meet the interest on the State debt; but it was necessary, also, to meet the indebtedness of the principal, and to make some response to the repeated requisitions of Congress. As the annual State tax amounted to near a million of dollars, many of the farmers had fallen behind in their payments. They were also encumbered with private debts, to which last, costs were added. A multitude of suits were pending in all the courts; County Conventions, called to complain of grievances, had been followed, in Worcester and the counties west of it, by armed mobs, which prevented the courts from sitting. The real difficulty seemed to have been, the poverty and exhaustion of the

country, consequent upon the late war; the want of certain and remunerative markets for the produce of the farmers; and the depreciation of domestic manufactures by competition from abroad.

The Gazette of Sept. 14th, gives the following, as "late intelligence from Massachusetts:"

We hear from Massachusetts, that the public attention is much excited by the discontents which are prevailing in that State. Conventions have been formed for the purpose of redressing the supposed grievances of the people. The week past, about four hundred men assembled at Northampton, and prevented the sitting of the Court of Common Pleas. From what we can learn, the following are the causes of their discontent: 1. The sitting of the General Court in Boston; 2. The abuses in the practice of the law, and exorbitancy of the fee table; 8. The existence of the Common Pleas and General Sessions, in their present mode of administration; 4. The appropriating the revenue arising from the impost and excise, to the payment of the interest of State securities; 5. The unreasonable and unnecessary grants made by the General Court to the Attorney-General and others; 6. The servants of the government being too numerous, and having too great salaries; 7. The Commonwealth's granting aid, or paying moneys, to Congress, while their accounts remained unsettled; 8. The want of a circulating medium. This last grievance is generally acknowledged in all the States, in a greater or less degree, except in the State of Rhode Island, which seems to be as much distressed by a circulating medium as Massachusetts is for the want of one.

In the same paper is published a proclamation "by His Excellency, JAMES BOWDOIN, Esq., Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts," setting forth, among other things, that on the 29th day of August, "a large concourse of people from several parts of the county, assembled at the court-house in Northampton, many of whom were armed with guns, swords, and other deadly weapons, and with drums beating and fifes

playing, in contempt and open defiance of the authority of this government, did, by threats of violence, and keeping possession of the court-house until 12 o'clock on the night of the same day, prevent the sitting of the court, and the orderly administration of justice in that county, ..... the Attorney- General is hereby directed to prosecute, and bring to condign punishment, the ringleaders and abettors of any similar violation, in future, whenever or wherever it shall be perpetrated within this Commonwealth."

The condition of things in Massachusetts attracted the very serious attention of Congress. It was feared that the malcontents, who were very numerous in the western part of the State, might seize the arms in the federal arsenal at Springfield, and muster in sufficient force to overturn the government. Congress accordingly voted to enlist thirteen hundred men to sustain Massachusetts in putting down the insurrection in her borders; and a special requisition of half a million of dollars was made upon the States of the Confederacy, to support these troops. But the insurrection broke out before the government soldiers could be mustered. Daniel Shays, of Pelham, a late captain in the Continental army, at the head of a thousand armed men, marched on to Worcester, and effectually prevented the session of the Supreme Court, in that town. (See page 6.) Subsequently, at the head of a smaller number of men, he marched to Springfield, and there prevented the session of the court being held. Likewise at Northampton, the Court of Common Pleas was prevented from holding its usual session.

A letter dated Boston, November 29th, states that "orders have been issued by his excellency, the Commander-in-Chief, for the militia to hold themselves in readiness to march, at the shortest notice. They were in consequence of information received,

of the insurgents being in motion, in several parts, in order, as was supposed, to prevent the sitting of the courts of Common Pleas and Sessions, now holden at Cambridge, for the county of Middlesex. But from the latest accounts, we learn that the malcontents had yesterday proceeded no further on their way than Concord. Whether they would proceed further, was uncertain. However, from the disposition which is made to oppose them, should they attempt it, the friends of government have very little to apprehend."

Beyond the preventing of the session of the courts, the insurgents do not seem to have had any plan. Governor Bowdoin immediately called out the militia of Massachusetts to the number of four thousand, which troops were placed under the command of General Lincoln. This force, in the midst of one of the severest of winters, marched through Worcester, on their way to Springfield, to relieve General Shepard, who was guarding the federal arsenal there, at the head of a small body of western militia. The insurgents had now assembled, at this point, to the number of about two thousand, in three bodies, under Shays, Luke Day of West Springfield; Adam Wheeler, of Hubbardston; and Eli Parsons, of Adams. The former, having demanded possession of the federal arsenal, approached from Wilbraham, to take it. General Shepard with great promptness, brought his small ordnance to bear upon the advancing column of the insurgents, and, when they persisted in approaching, he gave the order to fire. The first discharge was purposely directed over their heads; and when the pieces were leveled at their ranks, a cry of murder arose from those in advance, who broke the ranks, and fled in dismay, leaving three of their comrades dead upon the field. The insurgents, receiving information of the approach of General Lincoln with reinforcements, hastily retreated, in the direction

of Amherst. They were for a while pursued by General Shepard, but succeeded in making good their retreat to Pellham, where they took their position on two lofty elevations, rendered almost inaccessible by reason of the snow. The weather being exceedingly severe, General Lincoln turned aside at Hadley, to put his troops under cover. Negotiations here ensued, and the insurgents offered to disperse, on condition of general pardon. The Massachusetts Sentinel, of January 27th, 1787, gives the following, as the insurgents' "petition." The document is dated the day of the attack upon General Shepard's forces at Springfield, but was not transmitted to General Lincoln until some days afterwards:

To the Hon. Major-General LINCOLN :

SIR:— Unwilling to be any way accessory to the shedding of blood, and greatly desirous of restoring peace and harmony to this convulsed Commonwealth, we propose that all the troops on the part of government be disbanded immediately, and that all and every person who has been acting, or any way aiding or assisting in any of the late risings of the people, may be indemnified in their person and property until the setting of the next General Court; and no person be taken. molested, or injured, on account of the above said risings of the people, until a fair opportunity can be had for a hearing in the next General Court, respecting the matters of complaints of the people; and that all matters rest as they are in all parts, until that time, and all the persons that have been taken on the part of government, be released without punishment. The above conditions to be made sure by Proclamation, issued by his Excellency the Governor: On which conditions, the people now in arms, in defense of their lives and liberties, will quietly return to their respective habitations, patiently hoping and waiting for constitutional relief from the insupportable burdens they now labor under.

DANIEL SHAYS.

Per order DANIEL GRAY, Chairman. Wilbraham, Jan. 25, 1787.

But General Lincoln had no authority to conclude a treaty

with them. While the negotiations were pending, the insurgents, being hard pressed for provisions, broke up their camp, and retreated to Petersham. General Lincoln, receiving intelligence of this sudden movement on the part of the insurgents, immediately started in pursuit, and after pushing forward all night, through a driving storm of snow, and accomplishing a march of forty miles, entered Petersham early the next morning, to the utter astonishment of the insurgents. He succeeded in taking one hundred and fifty of their number prisoners, and the remainder, having had a moment's warning, fled hastily by the northern road, most of their leaders escaping into New Hampshire. Lincoln, having thus dispersed the insurgents east of the Connecticut line, moved into Berkshire County, where the malcontents were still more numerous.

The General Court having been called together on the 30th of February, a declaration of rebellion was put forth, and money was voted, with additional troops to supply the place of Lincoln's men, whose term of enlistment would soon expire. The border States were also called upon to assist in arresting and dispersing the insurgents, some of whom lurked in their extreme towns, from whence they made predatory excursions into Massachusetts, and often kidnapped and carried off with them the more prominent friends of government and order. The States of New Hampshire, New York, and Connecticut, promptly complied with the request of Massachusetts; but Rhode Island and Vermont were more backward. Governor Collins, of the former State, in reply to the letter of Governor Bowdoin, requesting that the fugitives who were deeply concerned in the rebellion might be given up, according to the articles of confederation, replied, that "in consequence of the misconduct of the postmaster, your letter has but just been opened, in the upper house, and I sent it to the lower house,

to receive its instructions, who have not given me any instructions, and so I cannot do anything about the rebellion, and they cannot be meddled with!" Many of the insurgents escaped to Canada; but there they found no encouragement. At last, the General Court offered a free pardon, on their laying down arms and taking the oath of allegiance, to all who had served among the insurgents in the capacity of privates, or as non-commissioned officers—depriving them, however, for a period of three years, of the privilege of suffrage; to set as jurymen; or to be employed as school-masters, inn-keepers, or retailers of ardent spirits. Commissioners were appointed, who were authorized to confer pardon, on such terms as they might see fit, and as circumstances might warrant, to those not included in the free pardon—active leaders—those taken in arms a second time—or such as had fired upon or wounded any loyal subject of the Commonwealth. Of the prisoners taken by General Lincoln, fourteen were found guilty of high treason, and sentenced to death. Others were convicted of sedition, but were not executed; indeed, the punishment inflicted, and the terms imposed by the Commissioners, of which, seven hundred and ninety availed themselves, were, in general, very moderate—harsh measures not being deemed safe—as at least one-third of the whole population of the State was thought to sympathize with the insurgents—and the prevalence of this sentiment showed itself at the next election, when the energetic Governor Bowdoin, who had redeemed the State from impending ruin, was dropped, and John Hancock, of Braintree, was elected in his place. Many, also. who had been most zealous against the insurgents, in the General Court, failed of an election.

And thus ended the Shays rebellion.